Critical Theory emerged in the 1920s from the work of the Frankfurt School, the circle of German-Jewish academics who sought to diagnose-and, if at all possible, cure-the ills of society, particularly fascism and capitalism (Bronner, 2011). Scholars such as George Lukacs, Ernst Bloch, Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Herbert Marcuse and Jurgen Habermas were leading representatives of the critical tradition. In Critical Theory:Very Short Introductions, Bronner (2011) explains and discusses concepts such as alienation, the culture industry, repressive tolerance, non-identity and utopia. Issues that are evident among students and teachers.
Critical theory, also known as political scholarship, has its beginnings in the early works of Michael Apple. At its core, critical theory is a democratic and educational vision that provides hope to all students and teachers. As part of its postmodernist roots, critical theory attempts to "understand and deconstruct the political practices that deny equality and justice to some persons, and advantage and privilege others" (Slattery, 2006, p.228). It aims to achieve the egalitarian promise of democracy both in the United States as well as around the world. Therefore, "[t]rue democracy will be achieved only when all citizens have the knowledge and the motivation to live up to society's highest values and when economic and political opportunities are made equally available to all its constituents (Gordon as quoted in Slattery, 2006, p. 229). For the critical theorist, liberty and justice for all are bound together and achievable. However, "the vision of utopia, democracy, and egalitarianism, so integral to the American political and education psyche (Slattery, 2006, p. 228), has not yet been realized.
Equality has often been a spoken goal of education, in reality, the American educational system has done more to recreate inequities in an already stratified society than it has to end such injustices. Critical theory is vital to discussions of curriculum as it provides a 'way out' of the current state. "We live in troubled times; we live in an age of profound change" (Counts,1932, as quoted in Slattery, 2006, p. 231). Critical theory provides a means of creating a democratic educational vision. Principals, teachers, politicians, and society as a whole need to begin to question how schools can implement change which will allow for growth toward social justice. The ideas of critical theory offer hope to educators, students, and society because it offers a way to expose the system that oppresses them. Teachers should be critical of the practices they implement in their classrooms to see whether they are perpetuating injustices to students, and whether or not they are encouraging students to practice cultural and critical literacy as well. The ideas of Counts on society from 1932 are strikingly similar to current issues and events in society and schools today. Just as social reconstructionists were trying to find the central purpose of education decades ago, we are still trying to "stimulate new enthusiasm to address the economic and moral decay of modern society and [finding the central purpose of education] remains a concern of political theorists in the postmodern era" (Slattery, 2006, p. 231).
Critical theory is not narrowly defined as a school thought, however there are some general assumptions that bind together the scholars working in the field. Most critical theorists will agree that social arrangements are relationships of power and are oppressive. Examples include the negative stereotypes perpetuated by the ways women and minority groups are represented in film and other forms of media, as well as the fact that most teachers are women but the majority of administrators are male. The very nature of social class dictates that some classes are ruling over other classes. For example, the elite rule over the masses. Marx (Barker, 2008, p. 56), posits that "the ideas of the ruling class are, in every age, the ruling ideas, i.e., the class which is the dominant material force in society is at the same time its dominant intellectual force." Historically in America, this means that the limited ideas, values, and traditions of the rich whites have dictated the lives of the vastly diverse American population. This model based on the white man is repeated in schools, perpetuating these social and power relationships. Instead of schools acting as an equalizer of society, they quite effectively put students back into the same role their parents played in society. As a teacher think about your own classroom. Do you call on males more often than females? How many children of color are in the GT program at your school? Do women hold positions of power in your school and district? When the social order is reproduced through schools, an endless cycle of oppression is born, but critical curriculum theory may be the answer to ending this cycle of inequality.
Another assumption made by most critical theorists is that ideologies determine what you see or hear as 'fact'. According to Barker (2008, p. 5), "knowledge is never a neutral or objective phenomenon but a matter of positionality, that is, of the place from which one speaks, to whom, and for what purposes." This supports Slattery's claim that it is impossible to separate facts from personal values. This question about the reality of fact is repeated in a quest for truth, which is also directly tied to the individual. Foucalt (Barker, 2008, p. 31) uses the term "regimes of truth" in place of the traditional use of truth because it is necessary to take time, place, and social and cultural power into account when speaking about truth. What once was true to our parents may no longer be regarded as truth in today's society.
Popular beliefs and regulations have guided language and texts throughout history, creating our society that exists today. Language exists beyond the written word and includes oral language as well as other language that cannot be expressed using just words. According to critical theorists, language is not to be considered simple communication and interpretation, but rather a critical literacy that encompasses a complex system of navigation through society and socially constructed norms. Having critical literacy means that one is able to accurately break down text and language to discover their underlying constructs and influences. It is important to teach critical literacy skills, but is unfortunately often ignored in schools. The appropriate use of language in society and knowledge linked to this language allows the upper class to remain the ruling class, and the lack of knowledge being passed to other parts of society means that minorities remain oppressed. Directly related to the use of language is the role that thought plays in society and how it ties into power relationships. Knowledge, thought, and language all stand as a form of power and control over the less educated, the less experienced, and the less 'normal' citizens of society.
Therefore, it is important for educators to impress upon educational systems to incorporate the understanding of the written word. Freire (2009), for example, speaks of words being true and can only be true if at the same time become a praxis. This in turn creates a focus on action in the use of words, for when words according to Freire (2009) are not allowed to be used in their true context, reflection suffers as well. Moreover, Freire (2009) explains that when the word becomes empty, it becomes useless and cannot "denounce the world without a commitment to transform the world, and that there is no transformation without action" (p. 147). Therefore, it is imperative for everyone to take action and not just men as put forth by Freire. In turn educators must pass that knowledge on to the students so that they may develop critical thinking skills versus accepting the truth as status quo. For example, if one educator believes that reading is a lost art, then other educators must think it as well. Moreover, if one school system passes students simply because they show up for school, then other educational systems must conduct business the same way. When this occurs, the system continues to churn out illiterate, dysfunctional students ready to take on the mindless jobs the educational system so prepared them for. Meanwhile, men of privilege will continue to prepare the selected elite student population to take their place at ensuring the public educational system provides the mindless workforce for future generations to come.
Elements of Critical Theory
"Jurgen Habermas currently ranks as one of the most influential philosophers in the world (Bohman, J. & Rehg, W., 2011)." He was a student of Theodor Adorno, and a member of the Frankfurt school of critical theory (Doughty, nd). He has written an extensive amount of work that focuses on different topics related to social political theory. An important element of critical theory is the study of forms of knowledge. Recognizing that there are various kinds of knowledge, each of which has human interests embedded with it, can be an enlightening step toward reducing the failures in our perceptions, speech and action (Doughty, nd).
Habermas's three kinds of knowledge: 1. Technical knowledge - can be measured and is quantifiable (Doughty, nd). 2. Practical knowledge - characterized by people’s ability to understand the social events around them. (Doughty, nd) 3. Emancipatory knowledge - helps individuals gain insight into how those in power manipulate through wealth and privilege (Slattery, 2006, p. 234).
In essence, the powerful use their position to ensure that they can maintain their power. The foundation of critical theory is the emancipation of thought. It purports that individuals will gain insight into the societal structures that perpetuate oppression and actively work toward changing those structures (Doughty, nd). In addition, the theory states that there must be clear visions and understandings of such principals of liberation, egalitarianism, and utopian ideology in order to inspire hope and drive the change process (Slattery, 2006, p. 236).
Curriculum in Critical Theory
The Overt-Null-Hidden Curricular Triangle
Oftentimes, schools encounter decisions about curriculum. The curriculum our schools choose not to teach is just as important to critical theorists as the curriculum schools do present. On the surface, schools present knowledge, sifted through multiple levels of review and critique to students, in measured quantities. The systems in place to review this surface curriculum, or overt curriculum, vary from school to school. The variations found from one school to the next typically have to do with the number of stakeholders involved and each particular group of stakeholder’s unique interests. Overt curriculum has historically been the domain of; parents, school boards, politicians, and others who view the factual information in schools as having a huge impact on the social and moral backbone of society. Critical theorists, in their review of the social impact school has on society, attempt to reveal the ‘hidden curriculum’ behind what is on the surface.
The Hidden curriculum is the unintended knowledge that students accumulate through the schooling process(Slattery, 2006, p. 234) The hidden curriculum is not what is officially a goal of the school but rather what is learned through the institution of schooling. For example, a goal of public schools in the U.S. is to teach students about democracy. However in many schools students never get to make decisions, so the hidden curriculum being taught to the students is how to live in an authoritative society. Another aspect of the curriculum that is “hidden” is the null curriculum.
The “null curriculum” refers to those elements of the overt curriculum that are omitted because of time constraints, omissions, or prejudice of the teacher.” (Slattery, 2006, p. 234) A teacher who omitted the Civil Rights Movement from a history course would give students the message that racism hasn’t been an important factor in our nation’s history. (Slattery, 2006, p.234) Often, the hidden and null curriculum, have more of an effect on students than the overt curriculum. McLaren (1989) describes the hidden curriculum as an "incarceration of students in the "semiotics of power" and works against the success of racial minorities, women and the poor" (McLaren, 1989, quoted in Slattery, 2006, p. 234). He focuses on the issue of “hidden” and “null” curriculum in schools.
Children on field trip visit Occupy L.A.
The picture above represents the hidden curriculum that accumulates through the school process. The teacher of these students is reported as having said, "My goal as a teacher, regardless of my own personal beliefs, is to expose the students to as many viewpoints as possible"(Stevens, 2011). Using the Occupy-Wall-Street movement to give students a first-hand look at democracy is in tune with the postmodern theory. By exposing our students to a grass roots movement we are definitely showing them how important peoples' voices is are our country.
Self-Conscious Critique
Self-conscious critique is recognized as an element of critical theory. The utopian, democratic and egalitarian visions of critical theorists emerge from their own self-conscious critique (Slattery, 2006, p.233). For example, Jonathan Kozol's experience in a low-income school district inspired his critique because of the lack of resources and the “close-mindedness” of the school’s curriculum and administrators (Slattery, 2006, p. 233 ). In an article that was directed to President Obama and other current political leaders, Kozol noticed some prejudice towards certain schools and districts. In his article, Kozol (2010) suggests that the White House put together a package of incentives that will encourage wealthy surbuban schools to admit inner-city children. Such incentives might include additional funding for each transfer student, funds for construction for additional space, and funds for bussing or transporting the transfer students (Kozol, 2010). Although attempts have been made by many courageous people to close the race gap, Kozol believes that the pressure must be put on the U. S. president to offer incentives, like the ones mentioned above, to bring about true equality (Kozol, 2010). Through experience most critical theorists get inspired and respond.
Liberation Theology
Alleviating social oppression is at the heart of liberation theology. Liberation theologians support an emancipatory view of promoting hope for all people and they deeply support deliverance for the poor (Slattery, 2006, p. 231). Giroux (1988) asserts that in our current society, “culture is viewed as an artifact to be taken out of the historical warehouse of dominant tradition and uncritically transmitted to students" (p. 245). Liberation theologians reject our current standard of addressing culture and argue that we reevaluate historical realities and revolutionize our present understanding of culture and history. History should be linked with current events to increase relevancy and awareness. In order to achieve this unity amongst all beings, liberation theologians propose that we unite politics and social ethics in order to challenge deferred justice, and pursue a unified, integrated society in social, political, and economic realms (Slattery, 2006, p. 231).
To support Slattery’s beliefs, Garrett (2000) noted that one of the most renowned figures in liberation theology from an African American perspective was Martin Luther King. Garrett (2000) for example, also noted that “faith, the ideas of love, justice, liberation, hope, and redemptive suffering were at the core of King’s thinking (para. VI).” Moreover, the theme of black liberation theology was borne out of the Civil Rights movement and that many of the themes of liberation theology such as social oppression, promoting hope, and deliverance of the poor are also reflected in King’s philosophy much like the philosophies of Giroux and Slattery. According to Cone (1986) King also fashioned his theological beliefs to convince all Americans that all are equal. This philosophy connects with Giroux's in that Giroux asserted that “culture is viewed as an artifact to be taken out of the historical warehouse of dominant tradition and uncritically transmitted to students" (p. 245). In other words, King wanted to take culture out of the historical warehouse of dominant tradition and uncritically transmit it to all Americans.
If liberation theology supports alleviating social oppression, then one of the groups in education that educators must instill hope for are students that are part of the LGBT population. Moreover, if history is to be linked with current events to increase relevancy and awareness, then educators must provide a support network for the LGBT student population. Because, oppression still exists in today's schools in terms of those who bully the weaker students and others that discriminate against minorities, the LGBT community almost always seems to be ignored because of their sexual orientation. However, because of efforts to educate the educational system by providing statistical data about teenage suicides and the connection to LGBT student populations such as the 1989 federal report, that one third of all youth suicides were carried out by gay and lesbian youth, states such as Massachusetts have formed commissions to address safety in schools for the LGBT population (Nieto & Bode, 2008).
According to Nieto & Bode (2008) states and school systems that provide safe atmospheres for the LGBT student population, such as forming the Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA), students were three times less likely to be ridiculed because of their “coming out” in schools with these types of organizations.
As an example of where Texas stands on the issue of LGBT organizations in public schools, the three short articles (posted below) on a Corpus Christi, TX school district website should open the eyes of all educators to understand the very essence of liberation theology as seen through the eyes of educational philosophers such as Slattery and Giroux. For example, according to National Gay Straight Alliance Day (2011) the Equal Access Act “requires schools to offer fair opportunities for students to form student-led extracurricular groups, regardless of their religious, political and philosophical leanings.” Moreover, the act was believed to have been passed to protect certain Christian groups on school campuses, as LGBT issues were not even addressed in public schools in 1984 when the act was passed. However, the act stands as a testament to the ever evolving situations in all walks of life, that the only constant is change.
Frankfurt School In 1922, the Frankfurt School was established by Felix J. Weil using financial support from his father and not from any political affiliations (Jay, 1996). The school's goal was to organize intellects who would study independently of university or political pressures (Jay, 1996). Therefore, they would reexamine the assumptions of the Marxist theory, discuss the various versions of Marxism, and possibly define a 'true' Marxist theory (Jay, 1996). Following WWI, the rise in socialist governments and the German Communist Party forced some intellectuals to formulate a group to regenerate the Marxism among European countries (Jay, 1996). Shortly after the initial gatherings begun, there was a push to establish a more formal cohesiveness which erected the Institute for Social Research (Jay, 1996).
The Institute of Social Research did partner with the University of Frankfurt (Jay, 1996). In 1924, Grünberg gave the dedication speech for the institute's new building. He "concluded his opening address by clearly stating his personal allegiance to Marxism as a scientific methodology. Just as liberalism, state socialism, and the historical school had institutional homes elsewhere, so Marxism would be the ruling principle at the Institut" (Jay, 1996, p. 11). Many intellects became members of the institute and the goal of their work was to remain strictly non-political (Jay, 1996).
The likes of Horkheimer, Adorno, and Marcuse from the Institute of Social Research founded the origins of Critical Theory. The institute's intellectuals would critique other philosophical ideas and writings of "social and political phenomena" (Jay, 1996, p. 41).
The Frankfurt School is concerned with the study of socio-economic class structure and how this class structure enslaves the people within it. They are interested in exploring how school curriculum and the makers of the curriculum perpetuate this structure, calling for a "liberating pedagogy" (Slattery, 2006). Critical pedagogy is deeply rooted within the neo-marxist social theories of the Frankfurt School Critical theory, which holds that “All thought and power relations are inexorably linked,” and those power relations form "oppressive social arrangements” which drives it to be heavily invested in the concepts of “emancipation, change, and liberation” (Slattery, 2006, p. 236)
Karl Marx Karl Marx is best known not as a philosopher but as a revolutionary communist whose works inspired the foundation of many communist regimes in the 20th century. Even though he was trained as a philosopher, he decided to leave philosophy behind and move towards economics and politics. He wrote many contemporary philosophical debates, streatching from the philosophy of history and social sciences all the way to moral and political philosophy (Wolff, 2011). Karl Marx together with Frederick Engels founded the movement known as "Marxism" which main intention was to fight for the freedom of the working class and against all forms of domination by the bourgeoisie. Marxism came to existance in the Mid-nineteenth century with an opposition in three major tendencies in the workers' movement: Anarchism, Utopian and Doctrinarie Socialism. (Blunden, nd). Initially, the “Frankfurt School” had aimed to set up a kind of “marxist university” in Germany to conduct social research in support of the revolutionary workers movement. It was this group for example that invented the use of the questionnaire as instrument of social research. However, particularly after the triumph of Hitler, they were scattered across the world, and there developed a current of Marxist thinking which was entirely divorced from practical struggle in the workers’ movement. (Blunden, nd)
In terms of practicalpolitical struggle, Marx aimed his critique of commodity fetishism against bourgeois social scientists who simply describe the capitalist economy but, in so doing, simultaneously mis-describe it and prescribe a false social vision. According to Marx, bourgeois economists necessarily ignore the exploitation intrinsic to capitalist production. They fail to understand that capitalist production, for all its surface “freedom” and “fairness,” must extract surplus value from the labor of the working class. Like ordinary producers and consumers under capitalist conditions, bourgeois economists treat the commodity as a fetish ( Zuidervaart, 2011).
Theodor W. Adorno After World War II, Theodor W. Adorno was one of the most important philosophers and social critics in Germany. Adorno’s influence departs from his research and of the Frankfurt school to which he belonged. Adorno studied philosophy and music composition, and after two years as a university instructor, he was expelled by the Nazis along with other professors of Jewish heritage. Adorno left Germany in the spring of 1934. During the Nazi era he resided in Oxford, New York City and Southern California. After his returned to Frankfurt in 1949, he decided to take a position in the philosophy department. Due to his abilities and high intellect, he quickly became an honorably leading figure in the institute of social research and became the director of Frankfurt Institute in 1958.
Dialectic of Enlightment
One of his most famous books was written together with Horkheimer in 1947. Dialectic of Enlightment became one of the most searching critiques of modernity to have emerged among progressive European Intellectuals. In this book, Adorno and Horkheimer criticized modern science, industry and medicine for making promises of liberation, meanwhile they helped create a world where people willingly accepted a government headed by a dictator who practiced forcible suppression of opposition, and social regimentation, a government which knowingly practiced the destruction of racial, political and cultural groups, and vigorously develop lethal weapons of mass destruction.
There are many influential theorists whose works have guided the hand of critical theory. Some of these notable theorists include Dewey, Counts, Freire, Giroux, Kozol, and McLaren. Each of these individuals have ideas that have guided the field of critical theory in a unique way, creating in it the potential to bring about positive changes to the educational system of America and through these changes in schools, the potential for eventually changing all of society. For critical theorist, the self-conscious critique is an essential element in pedagogy.
John Dewey
John Dewey was an American philosopher and psychologist who was an advocate of democracy and education. He questioned whether "education should be a function of society or society be a function of education" (Slattery, 2006, p. 230). He believed that it was the role of schools to further democracy in society. According to Dewey, schools should not be a means of reproducing the already existing social order and classes, but rather schools were responsible for advancing "democracy while promoting an emancipatory approach to knowledge and learning so as to re-create a just and compassionate society" (Slattery, 2006, p. 230). According to Dewey, education and society were intimately connected, and "education is the fundamental method of social progress and reform" (Dewey, as quoted in Flinders & Thornton, 1998, p. 40). Schools should strive to educate students to be aware and critical of the influences in their lives and help them to navigate through life in the context of such influences. Teachers in this environment work as facilitators of knowledge found in the curriculum rather than physicians who diagnose and prescribe curriculum in premeasured dosages. Dewey viewed the ideal democratic process of education found between the two extremes of child and curriculum. In his arguments he discovered the negative impact an entirely child centered pedagogy can have on the learning process. The goal in education process is to find the perfect equilibrium between the content being taught and the child’s interests (Dewey, 1902). These ideas took the form of hand-on-learning, experiential education, and the more modern Project Based Learning.
Just as Dewey believed education should shape society he also believed it should serve to help children navigate in the society shaped through the educative process. Translating this idea into our modern context Dewey’s idea has been instrumental in developing Project Based Learning. A large component of this form of teaching is a focus on life skills students can use outside of the academic environment and within their larger societies. Examples of these life skills are creativity and ability to find information. A focus on these life skills, instead of note and test taking, in high school curriculum has been shown to increase the success of students in future academic, college, and social environments (Wurdinger & Rudolph, 2009). These modern approaches to democratic pedagogies stem from Dewey’s initial critical approach to his era’s theories around education. Critical theorists after Dewey re-iterated many of the ideas first posited by him and helped fuel further insights into our modern curricular choices and pedagogical practices.
George S. Counts http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ82ODqd_7UxAWHa-jL9aX2LrA74Xfcit1zIZ1z3aWW8GCj-gMF George S. Counts, a social reconstructionist, focused on challenging the social order through education. He believed that education has a responsibility to face social issues and establish relationships with the community. Counts believed that the level of indoctrination and social control in American schools was horrifying in the way that it led so often to social injustice (Slattery, 2006). He argues that, much like individuals being molded by their surrounding culture, the school system should operate with a similar purpose. If schools are more selective when choosing teachers, teaching methods, and curricula, schools have the power to become a strong social force in shaping the social and moral condition through education. Counts wanted teachers to accept their role in reconstructing society because of the problems with the social situations (Slattery, 2006). For example, teachers can use their passion for social change to influence students' actions and attitudes, although teachers should refrain from bias. Counts qualified this by stating that "the power of teachers exercise in the schools can be no greater than the power they wield in society" (Counts, 1932, p. 46).
Keeping in mind that Counts wrote these statements in 1932, "[t]he hypocrisy which is so characteristic of our public life today is due primarily to our failure to acknowledge the fairly obvious fact that America is the scene of an irreconcilable conflict between two opposing forces. On the one side is the democratic tradition inherited from the past; on the other is a system of economic arrangements which increasingly partakes of the nature of industrial feudalism (p. 50). He continues to have concerns whether democracy can survive based "upon small-scale production in both agriculture and industry and a rather general diffusion of the rights of property in capital and natural resources" (p. 50). Count was incredibly perceptive in identifying the conflicts between democracy and economics, then and as it continues today.
Paulo Freire
One of the major figures in educational political discourse and a member of the Frankfurt school of thought is Paulo Freire. The current method of education, Freire argued, was a means of perpetuating the socio-economic status quo. He called the current approach to curriculum and education the "banking" system (Freire, 1970, p.73). The banking system of education has two "classes" within it - the knowledge transmitters and the knowledge receivers. For Freire, teachers are transmitters or depositors of knowledge - they hold the knowledge that is valuable and determine what they will "deposit" for their students. Meanwhile, the students, acting like a bank, are only able to accept these deposits and only the deposits offered by the depositor; they are unable to create new knowledge for themselves. Freire calls this approach necrophilic as a means of oppression, "It attempts to control thinking and action, leads men to adjust to the world, and inhibits their creative power" (Freire, 1970, quoted in Slattery, 2006, p. 232).In order to break this cycle, Freire contends that the banking system must be rejected and replaced by a problem-posing pedagogy. In this approach, students are no longer seen as passive receivers of deposited knowledge but rather as conscious beings who are able to freely and completely participate in a problem-posing and solving curriculum - to liberate education requires "acts of cognition, not transferals of information" (Freire, 1970, quoted in Slattery, 2006, p. 232). Communication becomes a two-way street between teacher and student. For Freire, this was the means to liberate students from the oppressions perpetuated by the banking system of education.
Freire elaborates on "the banking concept" in his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed:
On the contrary, banking education maintains and even stimulates the contradiction through the following attitudes and practices, which mirror oppressive society as a whole:
(a) the teacher teaches and the students are taught; (b) the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing; (c) the teacher thinks and the students are thought about; (d) the teacher talks and the students listen--meekly; (e) the teacher disciplines and the students are disciplined; (f) the teacher chooses and enforces his choice, and the students comply; (g) the teacher acts and the student have the illusion of acting through the action of the teacher; (h) the teacher chooses the program content, and the students (who were not consulted) adapt to it; (i) the teacher confuses the authority of knowledge with his or her own professional authority, which she and he sets in opposition to the freedom of students; (j) the teacher is the Subject of the learning process, while the pupils are mere objects. (Freire, 1970, p. 73).
One of Paulo Freire's most well-known work is Pedagogy of the Oppressed, where he presents an example of critical theory in practice. Freire contends that "no pedagogy that is truly liberating can remain distant from the oppressed by treating them as unfortunates" (Slattery, 2006, p.232). These students then "develop a new awareness of self, a new sense of dignity, and ultimately an experience of hope" and a sense of agency (Slattery, 2006, p. 232).
His theory of consensus as a process when people disagree about differences in values, knowledge, and beliefs is captured when Freire writes "[t]rying to escape conflict, we preserve the status quo" (Freire, 1970, p. 45). He elaborates by framing the spirit of our studies "None of this is easily accomplished, and I would not like to leave readers with the impression that wanting is enough to change the world. Desire is fundamental, but it is not enough. It is also necessary to know how to want, to learn how to want, which implies learning how to fight politically with tactics adequate to our strategic dreams (Freire, 1970, pp. 50-51). This is the reason why Freire is a major figure in political educational discourses.
Henry Giroux
Henry Giroux is perhaps the best known critical theorists. He summarizes the beliefs of critical theorists: "We must develop a social vision and commitment to make the liberal arts supportive of a democratic public sphere in which despair will become unconvincing and hope a practice for students and teachers alike, regardless of class, religion, gender, or age" (Giroux, 1988, as cited in Slattery, 2006, p. 229). For Giroux, education should not blindly serve and replicate the existing social order. Culture (social order) is not an artifact for the schools to uncritically propagate. Rather, education, using the lens and tools of critical theory, needs to challenge the status quo in order to achieve true democracy. In order to do this, the liberal arts must become central to a liberating curriculum, supporting a democratic public sphere. In his vision, "hope must replace despair as the central practice for students and teachers, regardless of race, class, religion, gender, sexuality, language, ability, ethnicity, or age (Slattery, 2006, p. 231). In an interview with Mike Pozo in 2005 Giroux says "Democracy cannot function without educated citizens capable of being autonomous, making knowledge judgments, and bring what they learn to bear on understanding and shaping civic culture" (pg. 98). Giroux says to educate students to fight for a global democracy there must be "interdisciplinary programs in cultural studies, communications, the arts, and globalization studies" (Pozo, 2005, pg. 100).
Henry Giroux, along with other liberation theologians, purpose the development of a social vision to an emancipatory view that promotes hope for all people. He explains that tradition in the liberal arts usually renders instrumentalism that is more fitting in the production of specialists rather than providing broad forms of moral leadership used in the development of a democratic society (Slattery, 2006). Achieving excellence in liberal arts, then, requires students to enlist into a unitary cultural tradition and not attempt to create new forms of civic practice or participation. Giroux expresses the pedagogical aims of critical theory as means to examine emerging forms of capitalism and domination in order to “reconstruct the meaning of human emancipation and self-conscious critique” (Giroux, 1988, as cited in Slattery, 2006, p. 233).
An important element of critical theory is the self-conscious critique. Jonathan Kozol is a critical theorist who has used his own personal experiences in education to promote equity in education. It was his self-conscious autobiography that inspired him to publish his first book, Death at an Early Age in which he relates his experiences of working with African American children in Boston. Jonathan Kozol is a proponent of social justice in education. Through his books, which include SavageInequalities and The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America, he has shown the inequities in schooling for American minorities, including the politics of literacy in America. In Kozol's own classroom, he attempted to use the poetry of Langston Hughes to engage students but was fired by administrators who feared its implications and for his deviation from the curriculum. This exemplifies how schools perpetuate dominant class culture in schools, thus continuously enabling a cycle (Slattery, 2006). Kozol's work inspires readers to begin investigating educational political commentaries (Slattery, 2006).
Peter McLaren
UCLA Education Professor Peter L. McLaren Honored With Chair and Foundation
Peter McLaren was also influenced by his own personal experiences as an elementary teacher. In Peter McLaren's book, Life in Schools: An Introduction to critical Pedagogy in the Foundations of Education, he attempts to address two important questions. First, "Why is critical pedagogy so important for schooling today?" The second, 'What is the relationship between what we do in classrooms and our efforts to build a just society?" (Slattery, 2006, p.234). Through his work, McLaren provides an outline of the central elements of critical pedagogy and discusses his ideas on the different curricula.
The Overt Curriculum The video above makes light of the perspective that the school system has on students. When veiwing this video I see the curriculum being forced upon the students. The overt curriculum is apparent in this video. On several occasion McLaren makes comparisons of the hidden and null to the overt curriculum. The overt curriculum is compromised of the official syllabus, lessons plans, and scope and sequence or guide (Slattery, 2006). In camparison to animals that are frequently look to as mere objects responding to changes in their enviroment, the students depicted in the video were characterized as objects responding as well. In other words the curriculum and the student's responce to the curriculum is the focused rather than the curruculum responding to the learning needs of the student. The overt curriculum completely contrasts the hidden curriculum.
A second issue that McLaren addresses is the dialectical nature of critical pedagogy. McLaren views schools not just as a place for students to become productive citizens but as a place that empowers students towards social change (Slattery 2006). This perspective allows critical theorists to see the school as a site for domination and liberation.
Antonia Darder is currently teaching at The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She has numerous publications and talks surrounding cultural issues in education. In her books, she references Paulo Freire and Henry Giroux, to name a few, and discusses the theory of critical pedagogy and the implications of cultural language, identity and social justice within education. Darder strives to provide ways in which we can live in a truly cultural democracy and how this concept may be transferred into school's curriculum (Darder, 1991).
Attached is the powerpoint presentation given during class.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Freire, P. (2009). In Flinders, D.J. & Thornton, S.J. Editors. Pedagogy of the oppressed (p. 147). The Curriculum Studies Reader. New York: Routledge
Garrett, J. (2000). Black christianity and the prophetic church: Insights from the black theology of James H. Cone. Retrieved from http://www.wku.edu/~jan.garrett/bc&pc.htm
Jay, M. (1996). The dialectical imagination: A history of the Frankfurt School and the Institute of Social Research, 1923-1950: University of California Press.
Kozol, J. (2010). No Half Steps, No Equivocation. Educational Leadership, 68(3), 28-29. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Nieto, S. & Bode, P. (2008). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural education, 5th Ed. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. (p. 218).
Pozo, M. (2005) Henry Giroux and the Politics of Higher Education Under George W. Bush: An Interview. The Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 27, 95-107. doi:10.1080/10714410590917506
Slattery, P. (2006). Curriculum development in the postmodern era. 2nd Edition. New York: Routledge.
Wurdinger, S., & Rudolph, J. (2009). A different type of success: Teaching important life skills through project based learning. Improving Schools, 12(2), 115-129.
Critical Theory
Critical Theory emerged in the 1920s from the work of the Frankfurt School, the circle of German-Jewish academics who sought to diagnose-and, if at all possible, cure-the ills of society, particularly fascism and capitalism (Bronner, 2011). Scholars such as George Lukacs, Ernst Bloch, Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Herbert Marcuse and Jurgen Habermas were leading representatives of the critical tradition. In Critical Theory:Very Short Introductions, Bronner (2011) explains and discusses concepts such as alienation, the culture industry, repressive tolerance, non-identity and utopia. Issues that are evident among students and teachers.
Critical theory, also known as political scholarship, has its beginnings in the early works of Michael Apple. At its core, critical theory is a democratic and educational vision that provides hope to all students and teachers. As part of its postmodernist roots, critical theory attempts to "understand and deconstruct the political practices that deny equality and justice to some persons, and advantage and privilege others" (Slattery, 2006, p.228). It aims to achieve the egalitarian promise of democracy both in the United States as well as around the world. Therefore, "[t]rue democracy will be achieved only when all citizens have the knowledge and the motivation to live up to society's highest values and when economic and political opportunities are made equally available to all its constituents (Gordon as quoted in Slattery, 2006, p. 229). For the critical theorist, liberty and justice for all are bound together and achievable. However, "the vision of utopia, democracy, and egalitarianism, so integral to the American political and education psyche (Slattery, 2006, p. 228), has not yet been realized.
Equality has often been a spoken goal of education, in reality, the American educational system has done more to recreate inequities in an already stratified society than it has to end such injustices. Critical theory is vital to discussions of curriculum as it provides a 'way out' of the current state. "We live in troubled times; we live in an age of profound change" (Counts,1932, as quoted in Slattery, 2006, p. 231). Critical theory provides a means of creating a democratic educational vision. Principals, teachers, politicians, and society as a whole need to begin to question how schools can implement change which will allow for growth toward social justice. The ideas of critical theory offer hope to educators, students, and society because it offers a way to expose the system that oppresses them. Teachers should be critical of the practices they implement in their classrooms to see whether they are perpetuating injustices to students, and whether or not they are encouraging students to practice cultural and critical literacy as well. The ideas of Counts on society from 1932 are strikingly similar to current issues and events in society and schools today. Just as social reconstructionists were trying to find the central purpose of education decades ago, we are still trying to "stimulate new enthusiasm to address the economic and moral decay of modern society and [finding the central purpose of education] remains a concern of political theorists in the postmodern era" (Slattery, 2006, p. 231).
Critical theory is not narrowly defined as a school thought, however there are some general assumptions that bind together the scholars working in the field. Most critical theorists will agree that social arrangements are relationships of power and are oppressive. Examples include the negative stereotypes perpetuated by the ways women and minority groups are represented in film and other forms of media, as well as the fact that most teachers are women but the majority of administrators are male. The very nature of social class dictates that some classes are ruling over other classes. For example, the elite rule over the masses. Marx (Barker, 2008, p. 56), posits that "the ideas of the ruling class are, in every age, the ruling ideas, i.e., the class which is the dominant material force in society is at the same time its dominant intellectual force." Historically in America, this means that the limited ideas, values, and traditions of the rich whites have dictated the lives of the vastly diverse American population. This model based on the white man is repeated in schools, perpetuating these social and power relationships. Instead of schools acting as an equalizer of society, they quite effectively put students back into the same role their parents played in society. As a teacher think about your own classroom. Do you call on males more often than females? How many children of color are in the GT program at your school? Do women hold positions of power in your school and district? When the social order is reproduced through schools, an endless cycle of oppression is born, but critical curriculum theory may be the answer to ending this cycle of inequality.
Another assumption made by most critical theorists is that ideologies determine what you see or hear as 'fact'. According to Barker (2008, p. 5), "knowledge is never a neutral or objective phenomenon but a matter of positionality, that is, of the place from which one speaks, to whom, and for what purposes." This supports Slattery's claim that it is impossible to separate facts from personal values. This question about the reality of fact is repeated in a quest for truth, which is also directly tied to the individual. Foucalt (Barker, 2008, p. 31) uses the term "regimes of truth" in place of the traditional use of truth because it is necessary to take time, place, and social and cultural power into account when speaking about truth. What once was true to our parents may no longer be regarded as truth in today's society.
Popular beliefs and regulations have guided language and texts throughout history, creating our society that exists today. Language exists beyond the written word and includes oral language as well as other language that cannot be expressed using just words. According to critical theorists, language is not to be considered simple communication and interpretation, but rather a critical literacy that encompasses a complex system of navigation through society and socially constructed norms. Having critical literacy means that one is able to accurately break down text and language to discover their underlying constructs and influences. It is important to teach critical literacy skills, but is unfortunately often ignored in schools. The appropriate use of language in society and knowledge linked to this language allows the upper class to remain the ruling class, and the lack of knowledge being passed to other parts of society means that minorities remain oppressed. Directly related to the use of language is the role that thought plays in society and how it ties into power relationships. Knowledge, thought, and language all stand as a form of power and control over the less educated, the less experienced, and the less 'normal' citizens of society.
Therefore, it is important for educators to impress upon educational systems to incorporate the understanding of the written word. Freire (2009), for example, speaks of words being true and can only be true if at the same time become a praxis. This in turn creates a focus on action in the use of words, for when words according to Freire (2009) are not allowed to be used in their true context, reflection suffers as well. Moreover, Freire (2009) explains that when the word becomes empty, it becomes useless and cannot "denounce the world without a commitment to transform the world, and that there is no transformation without action" (p. 147). Therefore, it is imperative for everyone to take action and not just men as put forth by Freire. In turn educators must pass that knowledge on to the students so that they may develop critical thinking skills versus accepting the truth as status quo. For example, if one educator believes that reading is a lost art, then other educators must think it as well. Moreover, if one school system passes students simply because they show up for school, then other educational systems must conduct business the same way. When this occurs, the system continues to churn out illiterate, dysfunctional students ready to take on the mindless jobs the educational system so prepared them for. Meanwhile, men of privilege will continue to prepare the selected elite student population to take their place at ensuring the public educational system provides the mindless workforce for future generations to come.
Elements of Critical Theory
"Jurgen Habermas currently ranks as one of the most influential philosophers in the world (Bohman, J. & Rehg, W., 2011)." He was a student of Theodor Adorno, and a member of the Frankfurt school of critical theory (Doughty, nd). He has written an extensive amount of work that focuses on different topics related to social political theory. An important element of critical theory is the study of forms of knowledge. Recognizing that there are various kinds of knowledge, each of which has human interests embedded with it, can be an enlightening step toward reducing the failures in our perceptions, speech and action (Doughty, nd).
Habermas's three kinds of knowledge:
1. Technical knowledge - can be measured and is quantifiable (Doughty, nd).
2. Practical knowledge - characterized by people’s ability to understand the social events around them. (Doughty, nd)
3. Emancipatory knowledge - helps individuals gain insight into how those in power manipulate through wealth and privilege (Slattery, 2006, p. 234).
In essence, the powerful use their position to ensure that they can maintain their power. The foundation of critical theory is the emancipation of thought. It purports that individuals will gain insight into the societal structures that perpetuate oppression and actively work toward changing those structures (Doughty, nd). In addition, the theory states that there must be clear visions and understandings of such principals of liberation, egalitarianism, and utopian ideology in order to inspire hope and drive the change process (Slattery, 2006, p. 236).
Curriculum in Critical Theory
The Overt-Null-Hidden Curricular Triangle
Oftentimes, schools encounter decisions about curriculum. The curriculum our schools choose not to teach is just as important to critical theorists as the curriculum schools do present. On the surface, schools present knowledge, sifted through multiple levels of review and critique to students, in measured quantities. The systems in place to review this surface curriculum, or overt curriculum, vary from school to school. The variations found from one school to the next typically have to do with the number of stakeholders involved and each particular group of stakeholder’s unique interests. Overt curriculum has historically been the domain of; parents, school boards, politicians, and others who view the factual information in schools as having a huge impact on the social and moral backbone of society. Critical theorists, in their review of the social impact school has on society, attempt to reveal the ‘hidden curriculum’ behind what is on the surface.The Hidden curriculum is the unintended knowledge that students accumulate through the schooling process(Slattery, 2006, p. 234) The hidden curriculum is not what is officially a goal of the school but rather what is learned through the institution of schooling. For example, a goal of public schools in the U.S. is to teach students about democracy. However in many schools students never get to make decisions, so the hidden curriculum being taught to the students is how to live in an authoritative society. Another aspect of the curriculum that is “hidden” is the null curriculum.
The “null curriculum” refers to those elements of the overt curriculum that are omitted because of time constraints, omissions, or prejudice of the teacher.” (Slattery, 2006, p. 234) A teacher who omitted the Civil Rights Movement from a history course would give students the message that racism hasn’t been an important factor in our nation’s history. (Slattery, 2006, p.234) Often, the hidden and null curriculum, have more of an effect on students than the overt curriculum. McLaren (1989) describes the hidden curriculum as an "incarceration of students in the "semiotics of power" and works against the success of racial minorities, women and the poor" (McLaren, 1989, quoted in Slattery, 2006, p. 234). He focuses on the issue of “hidden” and “null” curriculum in schools.
The picture above represents the hidden curriculum that accumulates through the school process. The teacher of these students is reported as having said, "My goal as a teacher, regardless of my own personal beliefs, is to expose the students to as many viewpoints as possible"(Stevens, 2011). Using the Occupy-Wall-Street movement to give students a first-hand look at democracy is in tune with the postmodern theory. By exposing our students to a grass roots movement we are definitely showing them how important peoples' voices is are our country.
Self-Conscious Critique
Self-conscious critique is recognized as an element of critical theory. The utopian, democratic and egalitarian visions of critical theorists emerge from their own self-conscious critique (Slattery, 2006, p.233). For example, Jonathan Kozol's experience in a low-income school district inspired his critique because of the lack of resources and the “close-mindedness” of the school’s curriculum and administrators (Slattery, 2006, p. 233 ). In an article that was directed to President Obama and other current political leaders, Kozol noticed some prejudice towards certain schools and districts. In his article, Kozol (2010) suggests that the White House put together a package of incentives that will encourage wealthy surbuban schools to admit inner-city children. Such incentives might include additional funding for each transfer student, funds for construction for additional space, and funds for bussing or transporting the transfer students (Kozol, 2010). Although attempts have been made by many courageous people to close the race gap, Kozol believes that the pressure must be put on the U. S. president to offer incentives, like the ones mentioned above, to bring about true equality (Kozol, 2010). Through experience most critical theorists get inspired and respond.
Liberation Theology
Alleviating social oppression is at the heart of liberation theology. Liberation theologians support an emancipatory view of promoting hope for all people and they deeply support deliverance for the poor (Slattery, 2006, p. 231). Giroux (1988) asserts that in our current society, “culture is viewed as an artifact to be taken out of the historical warehouse of dominant tradition and uncritically transmitted to students" (p. 245). Liberation theologians reject our current standard of addressing culture and argue that we reevaluate historical realities and revolutionize our present understanding of culture and history. History should be linked with current events to increase relevancy and awareness. In order to achieve this unity amongst all beings, liberation theologians propose that we unite politics and social ethics in order to challenge deferred justice, and pursue a unified, integrated society in social, political, and economic realms (Slattery, 2006, p. 231).To support Slattery’s beliefs, Garrett (2000) noted that one of the most renowned figures in liberation theology from an African American perspective was Martin Luther King. Garrett (2000) for example, also noted that “faith, the ideas of love, justice, liberation, hope, and redemptive suffering were at the core of King’s thinking (para. VI).” Moreover, the theme of black liberation theology was borne out of the Civil Rights movement and that many of the themes of liberation theology such as social oppression, promoting hope, and deliverance of the poor are also reflected in King’s philosophy much like the philosophies of Giroux and Slattery. According to Cone (1986) King also fashioned his theological beliefs to convince all Americans that all are equal. This philosophy connects with Giroux's in that Giroux asserted that “culture is viewed as an artifact to be taken out of the historical warehouse of dominant tradition and uncritically transmitted to students" (p. 245). In other words, King wanted to take culture out of the historical warehouse of dominant tradition and uncritically transmit it to all Americans.
If liberation theology supports alleviating social oppression, then one of the groups in education that educators must instill hope for are students that are part of the LGBT population. Moreover, if history is to be linked with current events to increase relevancy and awareness, then educators must provide a support network for the LGBT student population. Because, oppression still exists in today's schools in terms of those who bully the weaker students and others that discriminate against minorities, the LGBT community almost always seems to be ignored because of their sexual orientation. However, because of efforts to educate the educational system by providing statistical data about teenage suicides and the connection to LGBT student populations such as the 1989 federal report, that one third of all youth suicides were carried out by gay and lesbian youth, states such as Massachusetts have formed commissions to address safety in schools for the LGBT population (Nieto & Bode, 2008).
According to Nieto & Bode (2008) states and school systems that provide safe atmospheres for the LGBT student population, such as forming the Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA), students were three times less likely to be ridiculed because of their “coming out” in schools with these types of organizations.
As an example of where Texas stands on the issue of LGBT organizations in public schools, the three short articles (posted below) on a Corpus Christi, TX school district website should open the eyes of all educators to understand the very essence of liberation theology as seen through the eyes of educational philosophers such as Slattery and Giroux. For example, according to National Gay Straight Alliance Day (2011) the Equal Access Act “requires schools to offer fair opportunities for students to form student-led extracurricular groups, regardless of their religious, political and philosophical leanings.” Moreover, the act was believed to have been passed to protect certain Christian groups on school campuses, as LGBT issues were not even addressed in public schools in 1984 when the act was passed. However, the act stands as a testament to the ever evolving situations in all walks of life, that the only constant is change.
1) http://www.opposingviews.com/i/texas-school-district-prohibits-gay-straight-alliance
2) http://www.caller.com/news/2011/mar/08/flour-bluff-isd-allow-gay-straight-alliance-meet-n/
3) http://www.caller.com/news/2011/aug/04/flour-bluff-isd-approves-gay-straight-alliance-a/
Frankfurt School
In 1922, the Frankfurt School was established by Felix J. Weil using financial support from his father and not from any political affiliations (Jay, 1996). The school's goal was to organize intellects who would study independently of university or political pressures (Jay, 1996). Therefore, they would reexamine the assumptions of the Marxist theory, discuss the various versions of Marxism, and possibly define a 'true' Marxist theory (Jay, 1996). Following WWI, the rise in socialist governments and the German Communist Party forced some intellectuals to formulate a group to regenerate the Marxism among European countries (Jay, 1996). Shortly after the initial gatherings begun, there was a push to establish a more formal cohesiveness which erected the Institute for Social Research (Jay, 1996).
Frankfurt School link
The Institute of Social Research did partner with the University of Frankfurt (Jay, 1996). In 1924, Grünberg gave the dedication speech for the institute's new building. He "concluded his opening address by clearly stating his personal allegiance to Marxism as a scientific methodology. Just as liberalism, state socialism, and the historical school had institutional homes elsewhere, so Marxism would be the ruling principle at the Institut" (Jay, 1996, p. 11). Many intellects became members of the institute and the goal of their work was to remain strictly non-political (Jay, 1996).
The likes of Horkheimer, Adorno, and Marcuse from the Institute of Social Research founded the origins of Critical Theory. The institute's intellectuals would critique other philosophical ideas and writings of "social and political phenomena" (Jay, 1996, p. 41).
The Frankfurt School is concerned with the study of socio-economic class structure and how this class structure enslaves the people within it. They are interested in exploring how school curriculum and the makers of the curriculum perpetuate this structure, calling for a "liberating pedagogy" (Slattery, 2006). Critical pedagogy is deeply rooted within the neo-marxist social theories of the Frankfurt School Critical theory, which holds that “All thought and power relations are inexorably linked,” and those power relations form "oppressive social arrangements” which drives it to be heavily invested in the concepts of “emancipation, change, and liberation” (Slattery, 2006, p. 236)
Karl Marx
Karl Marx is best known not as a philosopher but as a revolutionary communist whose works inspired the foundation of many communist regimes in the 20th century. Even though he was trained as a philosopher, he decided to leave philosophy behind and move towards economics and politics. He wrote many contemporary philosophical debates, streatching from the philosophy of history and social sciences all the way to moral and political philosophy (Wolff, 2011). Karl Marx together with Frederick Engels founded the movement known as "Marxism" which main intention was to fight for the freedom of the working class and against all forms of domination by the bourgeoisie. Marxism came to existance in the Mid-nineteenth century with an opposition in three major tendencies in the workers' movement: Anarchism, Utopian and Doctrinarie Socialism. (Blunden, nd).
Initially, the “Frankfurt School” had aimed to set up a kind of “marxist university” in Germany to conduct social research in support of the revolutionary workers movement. It was this group for example that invented the use of the questionnaire as instrument of social research. However, particularly after the triumph of Hitler, they were scattered across the world, and there developed a current of Marxist thinking which was entirely divorced from practical struggle in the workers’ movement. (Blunden, nd)
In terms of practicalpolitical struggle, Marx aimed his critique of commodity fetishism against bourgeois social scientists who simply describe the capitalist economy but, in so doing, simultaneously mis-describe it and prescribe a false social vision. According to Marx, bourgeois economists necessarily ignore the exploitation intrinsic to capitalist production. They fail to understand that capitalist production, for all its surface “freedom” and “fairness,” must extract surplus value from the labor of the working class. Like ordinary producers and consumers under capitalist conditions, bourgeois economists treat the commodity as a fetish ( Zuidervaart, 2011).
Theodor W. Adorno
After World War II, Theodor W. Adorno was one of the most important philosophers and social critics in Germany. Adorno’s influence departs from his research and of the Frankfurt school to which he belonged. Adorno studied philosophy and music composition, and after two years as a university instructor, he was expelled by the Nazis along with other professors of Jewish heritage. Adorno left Germany in the spring of 1934. During the Nazi era he resided in Oxford, New York City and Southern California. After his returned to Frankfurt in 1949, he decided to take a position in the philosophy department. Due to his abilities and high intellect, he quickly became an honorably leading figure in the institute of social research and became the director of Frankfurt Institute in 1958.
Dialectic of Enlightment
One of his most famous books was written together with Horkheimer in 1947. Dialectic of Enlightment became one of the most searching critiques of modernity to have emerged among progressive European Intellectuals. In this book, Adorno and Horkheimer criticized modern science, industry and medicine for making promises of liberation, meanwhile they helped create a world where people willingly accepted a government headed by a dictator who practiced forcible suppression of opposition, and social regimentation, a government which knowingly practiced the destruction of racial, political and cultural groups, and vigorously develop lethal weapons of mass destruction.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/adorno/
Well-Known Critical Theorists
There are many influential theorists whose works have guided the hand of critical theory. Some of these notable theorists include Dewey, Counts, Freire, Giroux, Kozol, and McLaren. Each of these individuals have ideas that have guided the field of critical theory in a unique way, creating in it the potential to bring about positive changes to the educational system of America and through these changes in schools, the potential for eventually changing all of society. For critical theorist, the self-conscious critique is an essential element in pedagogy.John Dewey
John Dewey was an American philosopher and psychologist who was an advocate of democracy and education. He questioned whether "education should be a function of society or society be a function of education" (Slattery, 2006, p. 230). He believed that it was the role of schools to further democracy in society. According to Dewey, schools should not be a means of reproducing the already existing social order and classes, but rather schools were responsible for advancing "democracy while promoting an emancipatory approach to knowledge and learning so as to re-create a just and compassionate society" (Slattery, 2006, p. 230).
According to Dewey, education and society were intimately connected, and "education is the fundamental method of social progress and reform" (Dewey, as quoted in Flinders & Thornton, 1998, p. 40). Schools should strive to educate students to be aware and critical of the influences in their lives and help them to navigate through life in the context of such influences. Teachers in this environment work as facilitators of knowledge found in the curriculum rather than physicians who diagnose and prescribe curriculum in premeasured dosages. Dewey viewed the ideal democratic process of education found between the two extremes of child and curriculum. In his arguments he discovered the negative impact an entirely child centered pedagogy can have on the learning process. The goal in education process is to find the perfect equilibrium between the content being taught and the child’s interests (Dewey, 1902). These ideas took the form of hand-on-learning, experiential education, and the more modern Project Based Learning.
Just as Dewey believed education should shape society he also believed it should serve to help children navigate in the society shaped through the educative process. Translating this idea into our modern context Dewey’s idea has been instrumental in developing Project Based Learning. A large component of this form of teaching is a focus on life skills students can use outside of the academic environment and within their larger societies. Examples of these life skills are creativity and ability to find information. A focus on these life skills, instead of note and test taking, in high school curriculum has been shown to increase the success of students in future academic, college, and social environments (Wurdinger & Rudolph, 2009). These modern approaches to democratic pedagogies stem from Dewey’s initial critical approach to his era’s theories around education. Critical theorists after Dewey re-iterated many of the ideas first posited by him and helped fuel further insights into our modern curricular choices and pedagogical practices.
George S. Counts
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ82ODqd_7UxAWHa-jL9aX2LrA74Xfcit1zIZ1z3aWW8GCj-gMF
George S. Counts, a social reconstructionist, focused on challenging the social order through education. He believed that education has a responsibility to face social issues and establish relationships with the community. Counts believed that the level of indoctrination and social control in American schools was horrifying in the way that it led so often to social injustice (Slattery, 2006). He argues that, much like individuals being molded by their surrounding culture, the school system should operate with a similar purpose. If schools are more selective when choosing teachers, teaching methods, and curricula, schools have the power to become a strong social force in shaping the social and moral condition through education. Counts wanted teachers to accept their role in reconstructing society because of the problems with the social situations (Slattery, 2006). For example, teachers can use their passion for social change to influence students' actions and attitudes, although teachers should refrain from bias. Counts qualified this by stating that "the power of teachers exercise in the schools can be no greater than the power they wield in society" (Counts, 1932, p. 46).
Keeping in mind that Counts wrote these statements in 1932, "[t]he hypocrisy which is so characteristic of our public life today is due primarily to our failure to acknowledge the fairly obvious fact that America is the scene of an irreconcilable conflict between two opposing forces. On the one side is the democratic tradition inherited from the past; on the other is a system of economic arrangements which increasingly partakes of the nature of industrial feudalism (p. 50). He continues to have concerns whether democracy can survive based "upon small-scale production in both agriculture and industry and a rather general diffusion of the rights of property in capital and natural resources" (p. 50). Count was incredibly perceptive in identifying the conflicts between democracy and economics, then and as it continues today.
Paulo Freire
One of the major figures in educational political discourse and a member of the Frankfurt school of thought is Paulo Freire. The current method of education, Freire argued, was a means of perpetuating the socio-economic status quo. He called the current approach to curriculum and education the "banking" system (Freire, 1970, p.73). The banking system of education has two "classes" within it - the knowledge transmitters and the knowledge receivers. For Freire, teachers are transmitters or depositors of knowledge - they hold the knowledge that is valuable and determine what they will "deposit" for their students. Meanwhile, the students, acting like a bank, are only able to accept these deposits and only the deposits offered by the depositor; they are unable to create new knowledge for themselves. Freire calls this approach necrophilic as a means of oppression, "It attempts to control thinking and action, leads men to adjust to the world, and inhibits their creative power" (Freire, 1970, quoted in Slattery, 2006, p. 232).In order to break this cycle, Freire contends that the banking system must be rejected and replaced by a problem-posing pedagogy. In this approach, students are no longer seen as passive receivers of deposited knowledge but rather as conscious beings who are able to freely and completely participate in a problem-posing and solving curriculum - to liberate education requires "acts of cognition, not transferals of information" (Freire, 1970, quoted in Slattery, 2006, p. 232). Communication becomes a two-way street between teacher and student. For Freire, this was the means to liberate students from the oppressions perpetuated by the banking system of education.
Freire elaborates on "the banking concept" in his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed:
On the contrary, banking education maintains and even stimulates the contradiction through the following
attitudes and practices, which mirror oppressive society as a whole:
(a) the teacher teaches and the students are taught;
(b) the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing;
(c) the teacher thinks and the students are thought about;
(d) the teacher talks and the students listen--meekly;
(e) the teacher disciplines and the students are disciplined;
(f) the teacher chooses and enforces his choice, and the students comply;
(g) the teacher acts and the student have the illusion of acting through the action of the teacher;
(h) the teacher chooses the program content, and the students (who were not consulted) adapt to it;
(i) the teacher confuses the authority of knowledge with his or her own professional authority, which she and
he sets in opposition to the freedom of students;
(j) the teacher is the Subject of the learning process, while the pupils are mere objects.
(Freire, 1970, p. 73).
One of Paulo Freire's most well-known work is Pedagogy of the Oppressed, where he presents an example of critical theory in practice. Freire contends that "no pedagogy that is truly liberating can remain distant from the oppressed by treating them as unfortunates" (Slattery, 2006, p.232). These students then "develop a new awareness of self, a new sense of dignity, and ultimately an experience of hope" and a sense of agency (Slattery, 2006, p. 232).
His theory of consensus as a process when people disagree about differences in values, knowledge, and beliefs is captured when Freire writes "[t]rying to escape conflict, we preserve the status quo" (Freire, 1970, p. 45). He elaborates by framing the spirit of our studies "None of this is easily accomplished, and I would not like to leave readers with the impression that wanting is enough to change the world. Desire is fundamental, but it is not enough. It is also necessary to know how to want, to learn how to want, which implies learning how to fight politically with tactics adequate to our strategic dreams (Freire, 1970, pp. 50-51). This is the reason why Freire is a major figure in political educational discourses.
Henry Giroux
Henry Giroux is perhaps the best known critical theorists. He summarizes the beliefs of critical theorists: "We must develop a social vision and commitment to make the liberal arts supportive of a democratic public sphere in which despair will become unconvincing and hope a practice for students and teachers alike, regardless of class, religion, gender, or age" (Giroux, 1988, as cited in Slattery, 2006, p. 229). For Giroux, education should not blindly serve and replicate the existing social order. Culture (social order) is not an artifact for the schools to uncritically propagate. Rather, education, using the lens and tools of critical theory, needs to challenge the status quo in order to achieve true democracy. In order to do this, the liberal arts must become central to a liberating curriculum, supporting a democratic public sphere. In his vision, "hope must replace despair as the central practice for students and teachers, regardless of race, class, religion, gender, sexuality, language, ability, ethnicity, or age (Slattery, 2006, p. 231). In an interview with Mike Pozo in 2005 Giroux says "Democracy cannot function without educated citizens capable of being autonomous, making knowledge judgments, and bring what they learn to bear on understanding and shaping civic culture" (pg. 98). Giroux says to educate students to fight for a global democracy there must be "interdisciplinary programs in cultural studies, communications, the arts, and globalization studies" (Pozo, 2005, pg. 100).
Henry Giroux, along with other liberation theologians, purpose the development of a social vision to an emancipatory view that promotes hope for all people. He explains that tradition in the liberal arts usually renders instrumentalism that is more fitting in the production of specialists rather than providing broad forms of moral leadership used in the development of a democratic society (Slattery, 2006). Achieving excellence in liberal arts, then, requires students to enlist into a unitary cultural tradition and not attempt to create new forms of civic practice or participation. Giroux expresses the pedagogical aims of critical theory as means to examine emerging forms of capitalism and domination in order to “reconstruct the meaning of human emancipation and self-conscious critique” (Giroux, 1988, as cited in Slattery, 2006, p. 233).
Jonathan Kozol
http://www.edutopia.org/images/graphics/jonathan_kozol.jpg
An important element of critical theory is the self-conscious critique. Jonathan Kozol is a critical theorist who has used his own personal experiences in education to promote equity in education. It was his self-conscious autobiography that inspired him to publish his first book, Death at an Early Age in which he relates his experiences of working with African American children in Boston. Jonathan Kozol is a proponent of social justice in education. Through his books, which include Savage Inequalities and The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America, he has shown the inequities in schooling for American minorities, including the politics of literacy in America. In Kozol's own classroom, he attempted to use the poetry of Langston Hughes to engage students but was fired by administrators who feared its implications and for his deviation from the curriculum. This exemplifies how schools perpetuate dominant class culture in schools, thus continuously enabling a cycle (Slattery, 2006). Kozol's work inspires readers to begin investigating educational political commentaries (Slattery, 2006).
Peter McLaren
Peter Mclaren [Photograph]. (2007). Retrieved October 30, 2011, from:
http://gseis.ucla.edu/news-events/press-releases/press-releases/ucla-education-professor-peter-l.-mclaren-honored-with-chair-and-foundation
Peter McLaren was also influenced by his own personal experiences as an elementary teacher. In Peter McLaren's book, Life in Schools: An Introduction to critical Pedagogy in the Foundations of Education, he attempts to address two important questions. First, "Why is critical pedagogy so important for schooling today?" The second, 'What is the relationship between what we do in classrooms and our efforts to build a just society?" (Slattery, 2006, p.234). Through his work, McLaren provides an outline of the central elements of critical pedagogy and discusses his ideas on the different curricula.
The Overt Curriculum
The video above makes light of the perspective that the school system has on students. When veiwing this video I see the curriculum being forced upon the students. The overt curriculum is apparent in this video. On several occasion McLaren makes comparisons of the hidden and null to the overt curriculum. The overt curriculum is compromised of the official syllabus, lessons plans, and scope and sequence or guide (Slattery, 2006). In camparison to animals that are frequently look to as mere objects responding to changes in their enviroment, the students depicted in the video were characterized as objects responding as well. In other words the curriculum and the student's responce to the curriculum is the focused rather than the curruculum responding to the learning needs of the student. The overt curriculum completely contrasts the hidden curriculum.
A second issue that McLaren addresses is the dialectical nature of critical pedagogy. McLaren views schools not just as a place for students to become productive citizens but as a place that empowers students towards social change (Slattery 2006). This perspective allows critical theorists to see the school as a site for domination and liberation.
Antonia Darder//
http://www.darder.org/
Antonia Darder is currently teaching at The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She has numerous publications and talks surrounding cultural issues in education. In her books, she references Paulo Freire and Henry Giroux, to name a few, and discusses the theory of critical pedagogy and the implications of cultural language, identity and social justice within education. Darder strives to provide ways in which we can live in a truly cultural democracy and how this concept may be transferred into school's curriculum (Darder, 1991).
Attached is the powerpoint presentation given during class.
References
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